NHL 11 Blackhawks 'Be a GM' Quest to Repeat

Ahh, last spring was a great time to be a hockey fan in Chicago. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 6 games, with the kid Patrick Kane scoring the game winning goal in overtime in Philadelphia. We were on top of the hockey world, and the Stanley Cup took a tour around the city. From the Billy Goat Tavern, to Wrigley Field, to on top of the Sears Tower, there were Stanley Cup sightings all summer. But summer is long gone, and it is time again to lace up the skates and go to work.​

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With the loss of key players such as Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Kris "Steeger" Versteeg and Anti Niemi, this team looks a lot different this year. Sure we still have the captain Jonathan Toews, the kid Patrick Kane and the best defense men in the NHL Duncan Keith, but there are still questions to be answered. Who will be the goalie? Will Marty Turco or Corey Crawford be the answer? How will the newcomers like Stalberg, Campoli and Frolik play?​

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Only time will tell, but this is the place to find out. Welcome to my NHL 11 offline Blackhawks franchise.​

Well, it seems the Blackhawks saw enough of Corey Crawford this preseason. The young goaltender struggled, as did veteran Marty Turco. The Solution? They may have landed one of the best goalies in the NHL in Tim Thomas. The 36 year old struggled last year for the bruins after having monster seasons in 2008 and 2009. This might be a gamble for the Blackhawks, who traded away vet Dave Bolland and their top prospect Jeremy Morin as well as Crawford. The Hawks did receive a good looking young prospect in Zach Hamill, who was the 8th overall pick in the 2007 NHL Draft and one of the best prospects Boston had to offer.Still, this was a costly trade for the Blackhawks, and if Tim Thomas doesn't play well GM MG will be in some trouble here in Chicago.​

Blackhawks offense was brutal tonight. The passing was sloppy and despite winning in every other facet of the game, they never really got anything going once they got near the net. Tomas Kopecky did take a breakaway and put it in the net with a nice little backhand, but besides that the team was held scoreless in regulation. In OVERTIME Tim Thomas did all he could, but Peter Mueller of the Avalanche finally beat him and the Avalanche clinched the victory outscoring the Blackhawks 2-1 in the shootout.​

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The Captain Jonathan Toews had this to say after the game. "We will be better, this was only game one. We have the Redwings coming up at home to start the season, so we are going to forget this loss and get ready for Detroit in Chicago."​

The Blackhawks looked better in game 2 tonight in the UC. Behind a standing room only crowd, the Blackhawks took on their rival Detroit Red Wings for early season bragging rights. The game was close throughout and the only difference was Marian Hossa. Hossa took a break away and easily beat Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood for the early 1-0 lead in the first period. The second period went scoreless until Pavel Datsuyk got a nice rebound off a one-timer for the goal on Tim Thomas. Going into the third period, the Blackhawks knew they needed to play some tight defense and pass better in the last period if they were to get their first win of the season. It didn't take long, as just under two minutes into the 3rd Marian Hossa hit a slapshot from the slot to take a 2-1 lead, his second goal of the game. The rest was all defense as Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and especially young Niklas Hjalmarsson all played especially great to stop the dangerous Red Wing offense. The Captain Jonathan Toews had this to say after the game, "We still didn't play our best obviously, but an early season win over a rival like Detroit is a big boost for us. We have to remember we are the World Champs and everyone is going to give us their best game all season long. We have to be ready, and tonight we were."​

Sabres fans are sent home depressed after a 6-1 drubbing by the Blackhawks​

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SCORE:
Blackhawks 6 Sabres 1​

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Total Shots:​

Blackhawks 23 Sabres 19​

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Powerplays:​

Blackhawks 0/0 Sabres 0/1​

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Faceoffs Won:​

Blackhawks 12 Sabres 9​

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Hits:
Blackhawks 12 Sabres 10​

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Penalties:​

Blackhawks 1 Sabres 0​

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Analysis:​

Not much to talk about here. The Blackhawks came right out of the shoot and put up 3 goals in the first period, including new Blackhawk Zach Hamill's first career goal and the Blackhawks destroyed the Sabres 6-1 in Buffalo. Ryan Miller, one of the best goalies in the world, was pulled in the 3rd period after surrendering the 6th goal by Marian Hossa off a deflection. The defense was sloppy at times but Tim Thomas made some great saves and the blowout was in full force. The Captain Jonathan Toews had this to say after the game, "That was Blackhawks hockey."​

The Blackhawks won their third straight game in a low scoring affair at the United Center. The defense played great, allowing only 10 shots on net. The offense did its part as Patrick Kane gave the Hawks a 1-0 lead 40 seconds into the game. The Predators later tied it at 1-1 off a deflected slapshot. The 4th line finally got a goal as Troy Brouwer made a nifty pass to Fernando Pisani for what ended up being the game-winning goal as the Hawks shut down the Predators all 3rd period. The Captain Jonathan Toews had this to say after the game, "We offensively struggled a little, but the defense played great and after Pisani scored in the 2nd we knew we were in control of the game. We played a little conservative in the 3rd but it paid off as they didn't really get anything going offensively. Good win for the team."​

Tough loss for the Blackhawks in Marty Turco's first start of the year. Turco gave up 2 soft goals during regulation, but did his best during the shootout. He stopped 4 penalty shots during the shootout, but the Hawks couldn't do anything offensively to win, scoring only 1 penalty goal on 6 attempts. Columbus's Steve Mason stopped 33 of 35 shots and was standing on his head most of the game. Great performance by the Blue Jackets goalie. The Captain, Jonothan Toews had this to say after the game, "Dissapointing, but you aren't going to win every game in the NHL. We will come back tomorrow and play the Sabres again. We have a tough assignment against Ryan Miller...he wont give up 6 goals like last time. Best way to get over a loss is to get back on the ice and win, and that is what we will try to do tomorrow."​

The Blackhawks, for whatever reason, own Ryan Miller. One of the best goalies in the world, Ryan Miller has now surrendered 9 goals in 2 games against the Blackhawks. Zach Hamill scored his third goal in three games and Jonathan Toews scored an improbale shorthanded goal in the first period and the Blackhawks bounce right back from last nights loss to win at home 3-0. The Sabres never really threatened to score and Tim Thomas recorded his first shutout of the season. Toews had this to say after the game, "Great win. Ryan Miller is the best in the buisness and I think that motivates us to try and score on him. Our defense is really playing great and we are consistently scoring goals right now, I think we might be closer to mid-season form than we expected. Good things are happening on the ice, so lets hope they continue!"​

Tough loss to swallow for the Blackhawks, who lost to St. Louis at home tonight in the UC. Jonathan Toews scored another spectacular goal in the 1st but the offense could not get it together after that, and even with out shooting the Blues 35-20, they were eventually forced into a shootout where they lost 2-1. Toews said this after the game, "I don't know why we aren't winning these shootouts. It is frustrating because we know we have the talent to have easily won all 3 of the shootouts we have been in this year, and instead we have lost all of them. We will just have to keep grinding, keep trucking and eventually the success in the shootouts will come."​

thanks man! it is a lot of fun, NHL 11 is a rare gem by EA's standards.

Click to expand...

Yea, this thread is getting me interested in starting my own season with the Ducks!! I might even start it out tonight...gotta get back to playing this game!! Excellent work here again btw...keep it up.

4th times a charm as the Blackhawks beat Vancouver in a shootout 2-1 ​

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SCORE:​

Blackhawks 2 Canucks 1​

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Powerplays:​

Blackhawks 0/1 Canucks 1/1 (Penalty Shot)​

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Faceoffs Won:​

Blackhawks 14 Canucks 14​

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Hits:​

Blackhawks 15 Canucks 11​

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Penalties:​

Blackhawks 1 Canucks 1​

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Analysis:​

Marian Hossa scored a one-timer off a brilliant pass by Michael Frolik with 20 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 1. In overtime neither team really found a rhythm and so yet again, for the 4th time in 8 games, the Blackhawks were faced with a shootout. The Hawks have lost the previous 3 shootouts, but tonight was different. "We knew we were going to win tonight. We were due." said Patrick Kane, adding "We hate the Canucks." Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews each scored in the shootout and Tim Thomas stopped 2 of the Canucks 3 shots to clinch the victory. The Blackhawks now move to 5-0-3, one of the strangest records you will ever see.​

(I accidentally closed the game before I could record the game stats)​

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Analysis: ​

Game was over before it even started as the Blackhawks put up 3 goals in the first period then coasted the rest of the way. Marian Hossa had a goal and an assist and is on absolute fire right now with 6 goals in the first 9 games. Jonathan Toews had this to say after the game "It felt good to play these guys again and beat them on their ice. Looking forward now to get revenge on Columbus at home tomorrow night. We are 6-0-3 and we like where we are at right now."​

Well, through 8 games played out of my 9 he is 6-2 with a 0.73 Goals Against Average which is OUTSTANDING. He has a 93% save percentage and 2 shutouts also. Really pleased with how he has done! And Zach Hamill the other piece of that trade has 3 goals so far and has been doing great in face offs. I really like how that trade is playing out right now, thanks for asking!

Blackhawks are on fire right now. They have yet to lose a game in regulation and are now 7-0-3 on the season and are clicking on all cylinders, especially defensively. Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith lead the NHL in hits and the other two Blackhawks defensemen on the second line Hjalmarsson and Campbell are bot tops in the NHL in the +/- statistic. Marin Hossa continued to light it up with an amazing deek and then goal between 2 defenders and the goalie and Ryan Johnson scored his first goal of the year as the Chicago beat up on the Blue Jackets 3-1.​

Analysis:
The Blackhawks are the best team in the NHL right now, and the stats prove it. While it is doubtful that they will continue to roll quiet this fast all season long, this great start to the season should send a message to the rest of the NHl, and that message is "We are the Champs for a reason." Viktor Stalberg scored his first two goals of the season and is tonights player of the game in this dominant performance by Chicago.​

The Blackhawks have now outscored their last 3 opponents a total of 14 to 1. Not much else needs to be said, this is the best team in hockey right now. We will see how they do when they play the better teams in the Western Conference, but right now they are handling the bad teams like they should.​